Algiers Polytechnic School of Architecture and Urbanism

The Polytechnic School of Architecture and Urbanism was the first architecture school in independent Algeria and the only one in the country. Most of my professors and myself were trained there. It therefore seems important to advocate for its listing and thus, its preservation.

Yasmine Belattar

Sometimes architects associated closely with one country have had significant impact on other countries as well. Oscar Niemeyer, city planner and developer of Brasilia, Brazil is a case in point. The Polytechnic School, built in 1968, was the first of five projects Niemeyer designed for Algeria while in living in France under self-imposed exile in 1964-1985. Prominent Algerian architect and urbanist Jean-Jacques Deluz taught in the school and expanded the building in 1978. The school thus brings together a world-famous international architect and a renowned local figure.